From Mark Eskin,
great-nephew of Sam Eskin
Morton Grove, IL

Dear Chia:

I enjoyed your site about Sam Eskin, my great uncle. Imagine my surprise to find out that the first man who taught me to strum a guitar was the subject of a biography on a web site. I have fond memories of Uncle Sam entertaining at family gatherings and events as being jovial, casual, and quite the individual.

I actually remember when I was three years old and Uncle Sam was performing for the family. I was curious and toddled over. He could sense my curiosity, and when I grabbed for the strings of his guitar, the gentle giant took my hand and showed me how to strum the guitar. I remember his gentle encouragement:
"That’s the way to do it. Yes, just like that," or something to that effect.

Shortly after I first started learning to play the guitar, I wrote a letter to Uncle Sam, dutifully listing my entire repertoire of all the chords I knew. One of the things I remember from his reply letter was the following:
"I’m so glad you’re learning the guitar and that you know so many chords. But, do you know a K-7th or a gimmel? [Now, we all know there is no K-7th (or so I think, unless it is some obscure note from one of those native melodies he recorded in some far off land…) and a gimmel is the letter ‘g" in Hebrew!]

I received a guitar for my 9th birthday and between Uncle Sam and the Beatles, as they say – ‘the rest is history.’ I have been in bands since I was 10 years old and continue to perform today. A few years ago, a legendary local Chicago band, The New Colony Six, asked me to join their ranks of talented professionals. The Colony (or NC6) entertains at special events, summer festivals, corporate gigs, and "Oldies" concerts, on a national basis.

Click the picture for a bigger view

In the 1960’s, NC6 had national as well as local hits. My other current band, BYTE, performs heavier Classic Rock music in Chicago area clubs. BYTE just celebrated its 30th Anniversary. You can find information about the New Colony Six and BYTE on these web sites: www.geocities.com/btlmark or www.home.earthlink.net/~feskin (both sites are currently under construction.)

Recently, I was asked to fill in for an injured guitarist in an all-Beatles band, called American English. It was an honor to be asked to play "George" [lead guitar], as this band is famous locally and has quite a following. Check out their web site: www.americanenglishbeatles.com and the calendar of events. The beat goes on...

more pictures
_________________________________ _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

From Bob Eskin,

nephew of Sam Eskin,
Chicago, IL

I think of Uncle Sam with fond memories. He was cool and understood a young man in his 20’s fresh out of college and on his way back from his grand tour of Europe in 1955! I was on the homebound leg of my tour, and like the impetuous lad that I could be at times, I did not make an advance booking for my return home. The only passage I could find was cabin class on the French Line, the Liberte’. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my famous Uncle Sam was on the same ship – in tourist class!! We had a fun trip back… He invited me to spend time with him and his son, Otho, in Woodstock, NY. Otho picked us up in a hearse! We had a great time. He knew just what a young lad wanted and needed.

Later in life, when traveling on business, I had a call in upper NY State and thought it would be great to see Uncle Sam again. I called and he gave me directions to his place. I can remember driving and driving and driving up lonely Route 17… I thought I’d never get there! He met me in town and led the rest of the way. We had steaks and lots of booze! We had a wonderful time. I’ll never forget my times with Uncle Sam and I’m so thankful that I called when I was in the area and made the drive, for the next week, he passed away.

________________________________________